Fourth place in the medal table was also achieved four years early. Team GB started slowly but as the Olympics unfolded it became clear a major success story was in the making . . .

DAY 2 (Sunday, 10 August)

• Nicole Cooke, gold, cycling, women's road race.

Cooke was one of the favourites for the road race and compatriots Emma Pooley and Sharon Laws helped her home.

DAY 3 (Monday, 11 August)

• Rebecca Adlington and Joanne Jackson, gold and bronze, swimming, women's 400m freestyle

Adlington and Jackson became the first women in 24 years to win swimming medals for Britain.

DAY 4 (Tuesday, 12 August)

• David Florence, silver, canoeing, men's slalom

Aberdeen's Florence earned Britain's first slalom canoeing prize since 1992.

• Daisy Dick, William Fox-Pitt, Tina Cook, Sharon Hunt, Mary King, bronze, equestrian, team eventing

• Tina Cook, bronze, equestrian, individual eventing

DAY 5 (Wednesday, 13 August)

• Emma Pooley, silver, cycling, women's time-trial

DAY 7 (Friday, 14 August)

• Jamie Staff, Jason Kenny, Chris Hoy, gold, track cycling, men's team sprint

Britain clocked a world record before beating France in the team sprint final.

DAY 8 (Saturday, 15 August)

• Rebecca Adlington, gold, swimming, women's 800m freestyle

Adlington became the first British woman to win two golds in the pool and in a world record time.

• Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington, bronze, rowing, women's double sculls

• Matthew Wells and Stephen Rowbotham, bronze, rowing, men's double sculls

• Tom James, Steve Williams, Pete Reed and Andy Triggs Hodge, gold, rowing, men's four

Britain's flagship crew came from almost a length back to pip Australia.

• Bradley Wiggins, gold, track cycling, men's individual pursuit.

Lived up to his tag as favourite, destroying New Zealand's Hayden Roulston in the final.

• Steven Burke, bronze, track cycling, men's individual pursuit.

Playing second fiddle to Wiggins, he beat Alexei Markov for bronze.

• Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar, gold and silver, track cycling, men's keirin.

Hoy became the most successful Scottish Olympian ever.



• Chris Newton, bronze, track cycling, men's points race

DAY 9 (Sunday, 17 August)

• Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb, Pippa Wilson, gold, sailing, Yngling.

The 'three blonds in a boat' held off the Dutch in stormy conditions.

• Zac Purchase, Mark Hunter, gold, rowing, men's lightweight double sculls.

Maintained their unbeaten season by fending off Greece in the final.

• Ben Ainslie, gold, sailing, Finn.

Ainslie's third Olympic gold, making him Britain's greatest ever sailor.

• Rebecca Romero and Wendy Houvenaghel, gold and silver, track cycling, women's individual pursuit.

Romero defeated Houvenaghel in the final to add cycling gold to her rowing silver from Athens.

• Annie Vernon, Debbie Flood, Frances Houghton, Katherine Grainger, silver, rowing, women's quadruple sculls

Despair for Grainger as China mounted a stirring fightback to edge her into a third straight silver medal.

• Alex Partridge, Tom Stallard, Tom Lucy, Richard Egington, Josh West, Alastair Heathcote, Matt Langridge, Colin Smith and cox Acer Nethercott, silver, rowing, men's eight

The men's eight almost hauled in the winning crew of Canada.

• Louis Smith, bronze, gymnastics, pommel horse

The 19-year-old became the first British man to win an individual gymnastics medal.

DAY 10 (Monday, 18 August)

• Joe Glanfield & Nick Rogers, silver, sailing, men's 470

• Paul Manning, Bradley Wiggins, Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas, gold, track cycling, men's team pursuit

The British quartet smashed the world record when beating Denmark.

DAY 11 (Tuesday, 19 August)

• Paul Goodison, gold, sailing, Laser

Finishing ahead of Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren in the final race was good enough for Goodison.

• Victoria Pendleton, gold, track cycling, women's individual sprint

Pendleton beat Anna Meares of Australia 2-0 in the best of three final.

• Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny, gold and silver, track cycling, men's individual sprint

Hoy and Kenny set up an all-British final, and it was Hoy who came up trumps for his third gold medal.

• Germaine Mason, silver, athletics, high jump

Mason won Britain's first track and field medal of the Games.

• Christine Ohuruogu, gold, athletics, women's 400m

Ohuruogu ran a perfectly paced race to clinch Britain's first gold in the event.

DAY 12 (Wednesday, 20 August)

• Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten, silver and bronze, swimming, women's open water

• Bryony Shaw, bronze, sailing, women's RS:X windsurfing

• Natasha Danvers, bronze, athletics, women's 400m hurdles

DAY 13 (Thursday, 21 August)

• David Davies, silver, swimming, men's open water

Davies became the only British man to win a medal in swimming in Beijing in the an exhausting 10km swim.

• Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson, gold, sailing, Star

Percy and Simpson made it four golds and six sailing medals in Qingdao.

• Phillips Idowu, silver, athletics, triple jump

DAY 14 (Friday, 22 August)

• Tim Brabants, gold, canoeing, men's K1 1,000m

The 31-year-old doctor led throughout the race at the Shunyi Rowing Park.

• Heather Fell, silver, modern pentathlon

• Tony Jeffries, bronze, boxing, light-heavyweight

• David Price, bronze, boxing, super heavyweight

DAY 15 (Saturday, 23 August)

• Tim Brabants, bronze, canoeing, men's K1 500m

Brabants became Britain's sixth multiple medallist in Beijing.

• Sarah Stevenson, bronze, taekwondo, women's +67kg

Stevenson was reinstated after a judging error, then secured Britain's first taekwondo medal.

• James Degale, gold, boxing, middleweight

A classy performance gave Degale a 16-14 win over Cuba's Emilio Correa.